Update, Thurs night 10/7/10… Will work on a new graphic tonight, I pwomise.
****
That’s a line from one of my top ten favorite actors, Samuel L. Jackson.
Ever since he delivered his monologue at the very end of Pulp Fiction, he’s been gold in my book. Scroll to the very bottom for the very best part of the whole darn movie…
Normally, both your asses would be dead as f*cking fried chicken, but you happened to pull this sh*t while I’m in a transitional period so I don’t wanna kill you, I wanna help you. But I can’t give you this case, it don’t belong to me. Besides, I’ve already been through too much sh*t this morning over this case to hand it over to your dumb ass. – Jules, Pulp Fiction
Well, at some point in the movie, Jules is all over his boss’ ass because he needs help, and five minutes ago, to dispose of a body. Marcellus tells him that he’s sending the Wolf to help Jules and Vincent out. Jules is ecstatic:
Sheeit Negro! That’s all you had to say! – Jules, Pulp Fiction
Cool as hell in a movie, delivered by a great actor. Strange as hell to see it on a census form, when the census effort is being overlorded by our first black president.
‘Negro’ Race Choice On Census Form Sparks Outrage
Question #9 Causes Uproar, Asks For Citizens To Pick ‘Black,’ ‘African American’ Or ‘Negro’ From Same Box
[snip]
It’s a word that many African Americans associate with segregation, so imagine how shocked many were to see it on the 2010 U.S. census form. – wcbs tv
Here’s my question – I thought we were going to be more open, less segregated, more at peace with one another, more color blind… so why is everyone afraid to ask the question “Why the hell aren’t we?” The era I grew up in… and the way I was raised… I’m not fond of either “n-word” – I do find them to be vulgar at worst and ill-mannered at best.
So anyway, what the hell is up with the census form?
What WCBS and indeed all of us should be asking: “Why the hell is it even a damned question that the government needs to ask?”
Seriously.
****
Here’s where it gets REALLY SILLY. Sometimes the words I don’t much care for (mentioned above) are an important part of historical literature and people ought to get over it. Words only have the power to truly hurt you if you let them, but words change concepts radically if we go changing them, which isn’t acceptable if that is not how the author intended, or if we remove the proper context.
Publisher renames novel “N-word of the Narcissus”
Predictably some responses were positive…
But Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP’s Washington bureau and senior vice president for advocacy and policy, said he found the new version of Conrad’s novel appropriate for readers.
What are we going to rename “The Heart of Darkness”? Perhaps “The Core of the Absence of Light”?
But some critics say updating a Conrad novel by replacing all mentions of the offensive term “nigger” with “n-word” is just as offensive as the word itself.
“It’s outrageous,” said Niger Innis, spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality, a New York-based civil rights organization. “Are they going to go to Mark Twain as well and take out all of those references?
[snip]
“I’m not going so far as to call the people who are doing this racist,” Innis said. “But I will say that whites have to be very careful in being so sensitive to blacks or other minorities to not be guilty of paternalism and treating us like children. That would be tragic.”
This is a hoot! NOW being sensitive is treating someone like children. Is there a win-win anywhere to be seen? Nah.
Sillier, even:
“It offers an option,” Shelton told FoxNews.com. “Keep in mind you can still buy the original.”
He said the latest version of Conrad’s classic is not an example of censorship because its original intent remains intact.
“You and I know what that means,” said Shelton. “The word really is still there but it takes into consideration those who would rather not read such derogatory language.”
If the word is really still there then why sanitize it? If it is that disturbing then changing it’s form and recognizing that it is really still there won’t change a thing. Why is there insistence on having it both ways? If you don’t want to read it, then don’t.
I guess I could say that about the sanitized version, too, so I won’t.
****
Jules: There’s a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.
I been sayin’ that sh*t for years. And if you ever heard it, it meant your ass. I never really questioned what it meant. I thought it was just a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherf*cker before you popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some sh*t this mornin’ made me think twice. Now I’m thinkin’: it could mean you’re the evil man. And I’m the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here, he’s the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could be you’re the righteous man and I’m the shepherd and it’s the world that’s evil and selfish. I’d like that. But that sh*t ain’t the truth. The truth is you’re the weak. And I’m the tyranny of evil men. But I’m tryin’, Ringo. I’m tryin’ real hard to be a shepherd.
Lemur King's Folly 